In the forty-second year of Pyeongchang, Qi Yan, the general soldier of the southwest, led 100,000 Qi troops to break the barbarian army, drove the barbarians out of the country for 3,000 miles, captured thirteen barbarian generals, two princes and princes of the army, and nineteen ministers of the army, and set up a barbarian royal account under the banner of the Qi family.

Later, the barbarians signed a covenant never to break the law, promising to provide 1,000 slaves, 3,000 cattle and sheep, and 10,000 taels of gold and jewelry every year, and sent their eldest prince Nacuo Dayu to leave the country as a hostage.

At this point, the war between the two countries was over, and the Son of Heaven was overjoyed, and he rewarded the army with 10,000 taels of gold, and the meritorious ones were all upgraded to the grade and rewarded with fields and residences.

Among them, he was awarded the title of Duke of Qi Yan Protectorate, and his grandson Qi Shan was brave and good at fighting, and he killed four generals of the enemy army in the field, and was awarded the title of General Xiaoyong and the title of Viscount of the Duke of Protectorate. The war is over, and the two of them led a small group of people back to Beijing to report on their work and receive the reward, and they traveled leisurely all the way for a month and finally came to the boundary of Qingzhou.

A vast team of nearly 300 people walked among the trees, and a young man with a slightly dark complexion in the leader turned his head sideways and asked the old man with gray temples beside him, "Grandfather, you have entered the boundary of Qingzhou, do you want to continue to camp in the forest tonight?" ”

When the old man heard this, he lowered his head and thought for a moment, then stroked his beard and smiled, "No need! Tonight there are people doing the east, and they are going into the city! ”

With that, he raised his whip and galloped forward, and when all his subordinates saw it, they also raised their whips and ran forward with a loud shout, and they were bound to compete for superiority, leaving the young man alone in the wind.

After a while, his henchman Falco came up with a hippie smile, "Less ......"

"Shut up."

Everyone galloped all the way to the Qingzhou City Gate before resting, and before entering the city, they saw an old man with gray hair but a straight back greeted him with a smile.

"The general is well, I have been waiting here for a long time on the orders of the master, please move the generals, the banquet has been prepared in the mansion."

When Qi Yan heard this, he ordered everyone to dismount and lead their horses to follow the old man.

Qingzhou is vast, after everyone walked around in the streets, they entered an old house, the courtyard was really full of banquets, the old man beckoned the soldiers to sit down, and led Qi Yan and Qi Shan into the inner courtyard.

When the two entered the house, an old man in plain clothes and white hair was writing something on the paper with one hand behind his back, and he didn't raise his head and said, "It's been hard all the way, why don't you come back after dinner?" ”

Qi Yan said, "I also thought about it, but your housekeeper's footsteps don't stop for a moment, and I don't dare to say more." As he spoke, he picked up the cup of tea on the table, turned around for a moment, spit it out, and shouted, "Isn't there anyone in your room who pours tea and water!" I don't know when this tea came in, and it smells like a swish! ”

"There are no maids in the house, there are no maids, and there are no maids who pour tea and water and red sleeves and incense," he stopped writing, looked up and pointed to the old man who was waiting outside the door, "The only one in this mansion has also been ordered to greet you today, and there is no one else." ”

When Qi Yan heard this, he put down the teacup stupidly, glanced at him with some disdain, and said, "You haven't continued the string for so many years?" If you marry a new lady, you will have a son and a half ......"

"If you say me, why don't you continue the strings? Could it be that there is a problem? ”

Qi Yan was interrupted and ridiculed again, he was really angry, and hurriedly ordered Qi Shan to support him, and said again, "Isn't His Royal Highness King Ling still a daughter?" Why don't you just stay in the capital, it's better than being alone now. ”

"She was named a princess at birth, and no matter which prince ascends to the throne in the future, she will be above the other princesses. I don't have much use in the capital, so it's better to stay away from her, so the emperor will pity her more. ”

"It's okay, since you're a princess, what kind of title do you get? When I return to Beijing this time, I will also take care of one or two for you. ”

"Rong An. Xu wanted to compensate her for the glory and stability that His Royal Highness King Ling could not enjoy, so he gave her such a title that made Kyoto eye-catching. ”

The old man carefully rolled the paper in his hand and put it into the scroll, "I don't need you to take care of it, Sister Ling is the queen, and she is already very good at taking care of her on weekdays." It's just you," he walked around the table, walked in front of Qi Yan, carefully glanced at Qi Shan behind him, and said nonchalantly, "I heard that the barbarians also sent protons to Beijing this time?" ”

"Yes, it's the eldest prince of the barbarians, the one called Nazoda," Qi Yan stretched out his hands to take the scroll, lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I know that you hate to slash the barbarians, but the prince is always different from the commoners." Besides, you have been away from the court for many years, and you have been stained with blood again for this mere proton, isn't it a waste of all your efforts? ”

"Of course I know," the old man lowered his eyes, "it's just that the barbarians are treacherous, so you should pay more attention." After finishing speaking, he changed his words and said, "The emperor is already old, and now Kyoto is the time when the princes are vying for power and taking the throne. Do you have a choice? ”

Qi Yan nodded, pondered for a moment and said, "The current queen is my own sister, and His Royal Highness King Hui is her own son, so I should go all the way with him." Moreover, King Hui also has a small reputation in the army, although he is not as brave as His Royal Highness King Ling back then, but he is also quite accomplished. The martial artist is frank, and he is much stronger than Ji Jiazi, who can only fiddle with his scheming. ”

"Ji Jia...... That's right, the Ji family," the old man sneered, turned around and walked to the desk again, "The Ji family has been a literary minister for generations, and they have made friends all over the world. It's just that now the rulers of the Ji family happen to be the brothers and uncles of the Ji family's concubines, stepping on the bones of the sisters and nieces of the same clan to climb up, and I don't know if they can sleep peacefully when they dream back at midnight. ”

As he spoke, he turned his head and saw Qi Yanzheng silently motioning for Qi Shan to cover his ears, and said with a smile, "What are you doing?" Our emperor even has to seize Ji's wife and nephew, and in the end, although he got a son, he ended up with a scandal that he could no longer have children, which has long been known to the world, is there anything that can't be said? Just let me say that he is also benevolent. Little general, what do you say? ”

His gaze fell on the tall young man behind Qi Yan who had been silent, not asking much and not looking much, and his expression was a little satisfied, "Can this kind of act have the style of an emperor?" ”

"Back to Grandfather Chen's words, forcibly occupying his wife and nephew, ignoring human ethics and etiquette, contrary to the emperor's morality, and ashamed of the people and military ministers, the world should be laughed at. Although ordinary people dare not speak, if they go on like this, they will lose the hearts of the people. Moreover, the Ji family was prosperous, but they did not speak outright, but allowed them to enter the palace, which was disloyal. Later, the Ji family took revenge, and the Ji family only wanted to survive with a broken wrist, without the affection of father and daughter, which was unjust. The emperor's favor for such a disloyal and unrighteous minister shows his heart. After finishing speaking, he lowered his eyebrows again, bowed his hand and said very respectfully, "The junior Qi Shan visited Master Chen Su and asked Grandfather Chen. ”

"Good, good!" Chen Su nodded appreciatively, clapped his hands, and said, "You grew up in the southwest, and you are surrounded by military generals, but it is not easy to have such an insight. No one introduced each other in this room, and I didn't report my home, how do you know that I am Chen Su? Could it be that your grandfather told you in advance? ”

"When I returned to Chen's grandfather, my grandfather didn't tell me in advance. It's just that in the past, when I was in the southwest, my grandfather often mentioned that he had a close friend in Kyoto, who loved poetry and writing, was upright in political affairs, and did not yield the prestige of the Son of Heaven. ”

"Okay," Chen Su nodded, glanced at Qi Yan who was smug on the side, and said with some regret, "You are so eloquent, it should be my Chen family's talent." Let's go to dinner with your grandfather, have a good rest, and go to Kyoto tomorrow. ”

After he finished speaking, he didn't care if Qi Yan had anything to say, and immediately beckoned the housekeeper to come in to see off the guests, and took out a new scroll from the bamboo basket next to him, and wrote something on it.

After a while, the housekeeper who had arranged the meals for Qi Yan and the others came back, bowed his hand and said, "Go back to the master, it has been arranged, it's just ...... Master, are you really not going to send it tomorrow? ”

"No, I'm happy to look at them, just look at the young man twice, and I always think of us who were also high-spirited back then," After a while, he stopped writing, raised his head and looked out of the door melancholy, and said leisurely, "Ah Fu, you see—you and I are old, and this world is still the world of young people after all." ”